We've seen Chilly Gonzales break down more than few songs from the genius behind Drake and iLoveMakonnen's "Tuesday" to Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." Today, Chilly returns to break down one of the year's biggest songs—the Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face." "What I love about this song is that it uses some very special techniques to withhold certain musical information that usually you get... The Weeknd creates this ambiguity where you don't really know where you are."
It's what Chilly describes as a "delayed gratification" where the song starts on a different key than it's really on to add a nervous energy and musical urgency to the song. He also describes the Weeknd's technique of "extreme syncopation" where the melody goes against the beat of the drums. Watch Chilly break down the song's success, musical history and more in his latest episode of Pop Music Masterclass above. For more on the Weeknd's success, read highlights from his Rolling Stone cover story.
